PSQCA reveales 13 brands selling unsafe drinking water

Submitted by pwg on Wed, 07/20/2016 - 10:39

Islamabad—Comparison of analytical findings with permissible limits of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has revealed that 13 brands including Aquwa Plus, New Nation, Osam, Well care, Royal Oasis, Blue Plus, Livon, Al- Habib, Aqua National, Nation, Naimat, Siiz Cool, Royal Blue) were found to be unsafe due to chemical contamination.

Out of those unsafe brands seven brands including New Nation, Osam, Well care, Aqua National, Nation, Naimat, Siiz Cool) have comparatively high level of Arsenic ranging from 13-50 ppb than PSQCA water quality standard for arsenic (10 ppb), said a press release here Tuesday. The excessive level of arsenic can cause various types of skin diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases, hypertension, heart diseases birth defects, black foot diseases and multiple types of cancers etc. The remaining brands were found unsafe due to the presence of higher levels of Sodium and Potassium.

The poor quality of drinking water has forced a large cross- section of citizens to buy bottled water. As a consequence of this expanding market a mushroom growth of bottled water industry in the country is witnessed during the last few years.

However, many of the mineral water companies were found selling contaminated water. To monitor and improve the quality of bottled water, the government of Pakistan through Ministry of Science and Technology has designated the task to PCRWR for quarterly monitoring of bottled/mineral water brands and publicize the results.

According to the monitoring report for the quarter from April to June, 2016, 114 samples of Mineral/Bottled water brands have been collected from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Muzaffarabad Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sargodha, Multan, Lahore, Bahawalpur, Karachi, Tando Jam, Quetta, and Peshawar. —APP